Many of you know the feeling. You had a wonderful holiday season and you spent tons of money to make it great with gifts and food, and other things you didn't have money for. You didn't have to worry about it then because you simply charged it.
So, now you are faced with those credit card bills for hold your holiday fun for a big price. You need to know that you don't have to spend years and years paying off that debt, you can accomplish the task in just a few months.
The first step is to lock up your credit cards. In order to stop adding to that debt, you have to stop using your credit cards. Learn to use cash or get a debit card to make your purchases.
Then you will need to examine the damage and make a plan. Open all of your credit card bills and look at the interest rates as well. If you have bad or high interest rates, see if you can qualify for a zero interest credit card that doesn't charge for balance transfers.
This is a great way to make your debt interest free for a few months. Be sure to understand that these rates usually only last for the first six months. Transferring your balances will help consolidate your debt and will make it much easier to handle.
You should only have one minimum payment to make every month. Now, this is the step that takes a lot of financial control. At this point you will need to stop buying those things you don't really need to free up some cash.
Use your extra cash flow to pay off your debt. If you can save up some cash, go ahead and send it an extra payment to your credit card company. Always write "apply to principal" in order to make sure your payment isn't held until t
he next bill comes.
In order to pay off your holiday debt in just a few months, you will probably need to at least double if not triple your minimum payment. Put all of your extra money towards your credit card bill. Pay off as much as you can until the balance is gone.
If you are having trouble with your self control over your finances, you will want to contact a financial advisor. Get help before you fall into more financial trouble.
This is the time to make a plan for the next holiday spending. Figure how much you spent the previous year and see if you can set a goal to save close to that amount of money over the next few months before the holidays.
When the next holiday season rolls around, only use the cash you have saved to gifts and chocolates and everything else. Don't spend money you don't have of you will end up in the same situation you are this year. It will definitely be a gift for yourself when you don't have credit card bills coming in January.
